It's really easy to point fingers, but unless your yard is xeriscaped or natural scrub, we ARE part of the problem. Any water that runs off our lawn/driveway and into storm drains is part of the problem.

The solution starts with each and every person. Accept your own personal responsibility in this and take action on the things that YOU can impact.


"POLLUTED STORMWATER RUNOFF AND GROUNDWATER ARE THE LARGEST FACTORS DEGRADING WATER QUALITY IN THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON"

Source: http://www.brevardcounty.us/do...ormwater-fee-faqs.pdf

I think the government tells us it is runoff so they don't have to discuss the old sewer lines and septic tanks.  Who thinks those sewer lines were made to last forever?  Most of them are 50 years old and made of concrete, when laid in dredged up material, that all the homes on Sykes Creek are built on for example, they degrade due to the salt in the dredged material.

Blame the homeowners so nobody talks about the failing infrastructure. Fertilizer might be the low hanging fruit but it is a small fraction of the problem.

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JMA

CNN worldwide just reported on our massive fish kill. In essence claims of the ACOE's billions of gals. released from the Big O being the main culprit, as this el nino brought record rainfall. The Corps is said to have cut the release quantity, however to little to late regarding the imact to the IRL. Sounds like all other factors being spoken about here has left the sytem vulnerable to not being healthy enough to survive what action the Corps chose to do. What are the chances this visibility now will garner a response of federal funds coming our way to restore the IRL? Constructive responses requested please.    

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ola ~

Plenty of people talk about septic. Scientists studying the lagoon have been sounding that alarm alongside the fertilizer alarm for over a decade now.

The majority of people on septic don't want to pay for the upgrade and the majority of people in general don't want to pay either. I remember the people in Orange City screaming bloody murder when the man came and forced them to hook up to city services to protect Blue Springs. I won't be any different in Brevard when the man knocks on 90,000 doors demanding that people pay to be upgraded.

So the elected officials are responding to that.

Regarding fertilizer, the people on septic will say the same thing about their septic tank that you say about lawn fertilizer. They will just point the finger somewhere else.

Fertilizer is a big fraction, on par with waste water or maybe worse. Look at the fraction of watershed that is in turf. Think about the sandy soil's terrible capacity to retain nutrients and do the math. Look at all the lawns that were fed this week right before the deluge that hit Cocoa/Rockledge/N MI/Cape Can/CCB. We had 3.5 inches in Rockledge Thurs night into Friday. A lot of lawns have those little warning signs that the lawn companies put out when they do the weed and feed herbicide/pesticide/fertilizer combo on St. Augustine.

Then there's the storm water. A lot of lawn guys are still blowing leaves into the street. You should have seen the leave litter piled up in the storm drains yesterday. The leaves themselves are a small thing but they are part of the "stormwater" elephant. Those oak leaves in a natural state would stay under the tree and compost down to feed the tree they came off. Now they wash down the storm drain to decompose in the lagoon and feed the lagoon. People figure the leaves are natural so it is okay. Those leaves should be composed in the lawns/landscape but people can't be bothered. Plus, that type of composting make pest control harder for the lawn companies that have there weed and feed schedules for perfect St. Augustine...

 

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You are right, there is some untreated wastewater, both allowed under permit, and loss from spills and leakage contributing to the problem.

And there are ways to estimate that amount, in both volume and nutrient contribution (do you really want to see more math? )

But they show time and again that fertilier (use, not necessarily misuse) 

is a (the?) major cuplrit and is much, much easier to fix in a reasonable time and $ scale.

FWIW, Martin Co is hooking septic to sewer in the IRL/St. Lucie River area.  

It costs in the neighborhood of $12-15K / home for the areas they're working.

What does it cost to NOT fertilize your yard? (and when can you get started on that?)

 

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add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway